Lingerie and wine targeted by shoplifters

Britain’s shops lose £800 million a year as a result of shoplifting, with wine and lingerie among the most stolen items, a report has found.

With employees stealing a further £770 million of goods, its means shops lose a total of £1.57 billion each year to theft, according to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, compiled by retail security firm Checkpoint Systems.

It also warned that stores could see a sharp rise in thefts over coming weeks as criminals target the key winter sales periods.

Small items and those with a high resale value are the most likely to be stolen, such as fashion accessories, power tools, mobile device accessories, wine and spirits, and razor blades.

Among the more surprising items likely to be targeted by thieves are door locks, lingerie and cheese.

“Interestingly, one major UK retailer is security tagging prosciutto ham in an effort to reduce shrinkage of one of its most popular festive food lines,” the report added.

According to official police data, there were more than 329,000 recorded incidents of shoplifting across the UK last year. This represent a 3% rise on 2013 and around 27,000 more than in 2012.

A number of police forces reported increases of more than 5% over the previous year. Of the 44 forces, just 14 recorded a decline in shoplifting. In terms of the total value of goods lost, the UK ranked sixth highest globally, behind the US, China, Germany, Russia and Japan.